Kira Yoshikage, a hollow man of remarkable acheivement, stood alone on the beach, gazing overthe royal blue water with his agonized teal depths. His lemon-coloredhair rustled lightly in the ocean breeze. He tried to deny the stirrings in hisheart as he hummed "Crawling" to himself. He wore an orchid suit with an silvery button-down shirt peekingout around his neck, and a pair of lavender formal pants. His blondestrands brushed against his earlobes, complementinghismelancholy fuchsia-flushedfair visage. He stood, awaiting his love.

It must have been fate in mortal form thatbrought them together. He knew from the moment he laid eyes on him that theywere meant to be. From then on, Kira Yoshikage was sometimes needy andclose, but then suddenly cold and fearful. Diavoloalso behaved strangely, one moment adoring, scathing the next. That was how it was to this very day.

Kira Yoshikage's teal orbs spotted Diavolo further down onthe beach, closer to the roaring sea.His lovely locks rippled behind him in a plushwave. His crystals were turnedtoward the ocean, hidden from Kira Yoshikage's sight, but he knew and loved their hollow obsidian hue. He was dressed in his own unique fashion, a styleunlike that of anyone else Kira Yoshikage knew. He was bloom-colored-flushed platinum and sturdily built. An elaborate tattoo snaked its wayaround his visible skin. As KiraYoshikage drew nearer, he caught a note of Diavolo's familiarperfume:sandalwood, earthy and spicy. His orbs softened. It always reminded him of the timethey shared. "Diavolo,"he called, walking towards him.

He glanced back at Kira Yoshikage before againreturning his onyx gaze to thewater. "Kira Yoshikage," he whispered.

Kira Yoshikage shrugged and said only,"Let's go." They begantheir leisurely walk along the ocean's edge.

Neither of them spoke for some time. It wasn'tuncommon for them -- they'd exchange poker-faced glances and walk in silencefor hours, until finally, they somehow touched, and overwhelmed by pain andloneliness they would turn to each other. It was no different this time. Theyhad tracked halfway down the shore, down to where a cliff rose to block theirprogress, before Diavolo turned to Kira Yoshikage and whispered, "I waiteda long time for today. I... I missed you a lot." Kira Yoshikage didn't sayanything. "It's like I told you before. You're all I have...."

Each sob was a blow against Kira Yoshikage's will andheart. At last he took a deep breath and dictated, "Stop. ... Please.You... you have no idea what effect you have on me."

"Why are you like this to me?"Diavolo whispered. "I... I don't understand. I need you, Kira Yoshikage. Ineed you like I need air. I'd do anything for you, but you still treat me this way...."Diavolo folded his arms across his chest and took a shuddering breath. "Doyou hate me, Kira Yoshikage?"

"What if I did?" he mused.

"I would fall apart," Diavolowhispered. "I would have no reason to be." He waited for some kind ofreassurance that it wasn't true, that it would never be, but it didn't come. Hebowed his head. He should've known better than to expect such a display fromKira Yoshikage.

Instead, he took a few steps toward the cliffand arced his head to gaze up its height. "If I could be as open asyou," he pondered, "I would consider myself lucky."

"Please let me in," Diavolo wept."Please. Together we might be able to bear this cruel world."

Kira Yoshikage was always reliving that day. Diavolo was also alwaysreliving that day. Maybe Diavolo had a point, he thought. Kira Yoshikageapproached him and brushed a finger below hischarcoal crystals."Perhaps... that might be..." he mused before stepping away again.Diavolo blinked, and wet his cheeks again with tears as Kira Yoshikage walkedaway -- and then hurriedly followed, for Diavolo had nothing else in the world.

After a few moments, they found themselves walking down thebeach again. Endlessly, KiraYoshikage was haunted by his shroudof pain -- but he resolved to battle it alone, as he had all his life. Diavolocould not know. No one could. It was his burden alone to bear.

All the same, Diavolo seemed to notice. Helooked at Kira Yoshikage cautiously for a moment before murmuring, "KiraYoshikage? Is... something wrong?"

"Diavolo... it's..."

And at that moment everything came together,all of the magic and the hurt that had been building that day, and he lockedhis orbs with hisand whispered, "You can tell me."

It was like a floodgate burst, or some barrierof fear had been struck down. Kira Yoshikage shook his head and everything cameout at once. "I don't knowif I can put it into words. I... lately... it might not even be just lately....It's nothing. It's nothing! I just... I don't feel well.... I don't know whereit is, whether it dwells in my heart in my head. It burns... there's nothingthat helps. Except that... sometimes, I feel a bit better when you're by myside...."

Diavolo listened silently andsolemnly. At last, when all the words had left Kira Yoshikage and he was at aloss for words, Diavolo reached out to him and took a deep breath to whisperback, "Kira Yoshikage... I... I don't know what it's like, to livewith your shroud of pain... but... I'm sorry, Kira Yoshikage. I wish... I wishI could help." Kira Yoshikage's eyes began to burn, and he abruptlypulled Diavolo into a fierce embrace. Diavolo's spheres widened at first,but then he too felt overwhelmed by emotion and succumbed to the warmth of KiraYoshikage's touch.

"You," Kira Yoshikage whispered, his breath hot on Diavolo's ear."As long as you're here, I... I can make it."

"Kira Yoshikage..." Diavolo laid a hand on Kira Yoshikage's shoulder,pushing him lightly so that they parted enough to look each other in the eye."The truth is, I... feel the same way about you."

Kira Yoshikage tilted his head forward, pressing their foreheads together, andwhispered, "What is it, Diavolo? Have you... been in pain,too?"

"Kira Yoshikage, it's..." Diavolo took a shuddering breath andwhispered, "I don't... I don't even know how to tell you this.... I'mnot... I'm not alive in the way you are. Kira Yoshikage... I fear you might notunderstand. My existence itself is so different from others who walk thisworld! When I imagine that you could think differently of me... it hurts, KiraYoshikage."

Kira Yoshikage placed his hands on Diavolo's cheeks, stroking his cheekbone ashe soothed, "Oh, Diavolo... I, I'm so sorry. I wish nothing so awfulever happened to you... I love you so much...."They held each other astears trickled down cheeks and dripped onto the shifting sands to be carriedaway into the sea. With time and soothing embraces, their pain dissipatedinto a mist swept out by the ocean breeze and into the setting sun.

They basked in each other's quietcompanionship for a few moments.

"Mm. Sunset."

Kira Yoshikage lifted his head at Diavolo's words to behold the dyingsun's fermented radiance."Mm."

After a moment of silence, Diavolo took Kira Yoshikage's hands in his and saidquietly and seriously, "Kira Yoshikage... you are the only one whohas ever meant so much to me. Without you... Without you, I would be thesea without the moon -- the moon without the sun -- I would be...lost."

"Kira Yoshikage, I..." Diavolo whispered, seemingly to himself. But whenKira Yoshikage looked at him, he saw a glimmer of hope in his morosewindows to his soul.

Kira Yoshikage sighed with contentment and brought Diavolo closer. He gazed atthe beautifulblonde rays of the falling sun, thinking about everything that hadtranspired on this day and all that would pass between them.

"I love you, Diavolo."

"I love you too, Kira Yoshikage."

Their lips met, and aurulent strands met roseate ones, aflame in thedying light. The sand was their witness and the rumbling ocean theirapproving audience, and Diavolo, his eternally faithful lover. Kira Yoshikagethought to himself that nothing had ever been so perfect for him asthis.